Sarah Mathe farms with her husband and their two young children on her family’s centennial farm in southeast Michigan. They raise corn, soybeans and wheat, plus cattle and sheep. Listen in as she talks about:

• Stories about her four-year-old daughter’s unique dress-up experiences
• Family stories about time spent together and business transition
• Responsibilities she balances as a mother, farmer and volunteer
• Things she enjoys doing and eating
• A few new ventures she’s working on with family
• A brief discussion about Project Rural Education Day (RED)
• Her dream day

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

• Michigan 4-H: https://www.canr.msu.edu/4h/
• Farm Bureau Proud video: https://www.facebook.com/MichiganFarmBureau/videos/mark-and-sarah-mathethey-are-farm-bureau-proud/10156331000995490/
• Michigan’s centennial farm program: http://hsmichigan.org/programs/centennial-farm-program/

Connect with Michigan GROWN, Michigan GREAT:

• Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
• Checkout our website at MichiganGrown.org
• Want to be featured as a Michigan AF business? Email us!

Thanks for listening and come back soon to hear about more people, foods and places that are Michigan AF!

Travis Fahley raises cash crops, hay and straw with his dad. He shares about:

• The roles other family members play in the farm dynamic
• The balance between sports and video games
• Sport/school rivalries in just one household
• His least favorite job on the farm
• Foods they’re eating in their household
• Something Michigan should have more of & travel destination ideas
• Things he’s working on in the winter
• Community projects his family enjoys doing
• Really great advice he’s received in life

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/farmer810
• Michigan Farm Bureau: https://www.michfb.com/mi/MFB/Farmer.aspx

Connect with Michigan GROWN, Michigan GREAT:

• Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
• Checkout our website at MichiganGrown.org
• Want to be featured as a Michigan AF business? Email us!

Thanks for listening and come back soon to hear about more people, foods and places that are Michigan AF!

It’s time to meet Carrie Preston! Carrie shares with us about lessons learned on the farm and through teaching about agricultural science. Topics include:

• What interests people most about her farm
• How Carrie chose to become an agriscience educator
• Transitioning into farming
• What sports teams her household roots for
• An activity that is a relief from camo and guns
• A surprising destination their family is looking forward to
• The secret ingredient to cooking an animal we’re not sure how to classify
• One of the most beautiful places she’s seen

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

• United Dairy Industry of Michigan grants: https://www.milkmeansmore.org/
• FFA: http://www.michiganffa.com/
• 4-H: https://www.canr.msu.edu/4h/
• MMPA Outstanding Young Dairy Cooperator program: https://www.mimilk.com/membership/member-involvement/young-cooperators/
• Farm Bureau: https://www.michfb.com/mi/

Connect with Michigan GROWN, Michigan GREAT:

• Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
• Checkout our website at MichiganGrown.org
• Want to be featured as a Michigan AF business? Email us!

Thanks for listening and come back soon to hear about more people, foods and places that are Michigan AF!

Meet Brian Preston. He farms with his dad, uncle and cousin to raise 1,500 acres of crops, plus 10,000 pigs per year AND milk 800 dairy cows in south-central Michigan. In this episode, we hear about:

• How and why their dairy and pig businesses have grown
• Brian’s passion in the business
• A simple solution to feed “shrink” in your household
• Activities that fill up his family’s days
• Something surprising Brian learned as new duck hunters
• The best place to eat at Michigan State
• A new tool Brian received for Christmas that will change-up their family meals
• Highlights of farm tours
• How he learned that he was meant for self-employment and why a family business is special

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

• Quincy farm tour: https://www.facebook.com/PrestonFarms
• Brody cafeteria at Michigan State University: https://eatatstate.msu.edu/menu/Brody%20Square/
• FFA: http://www.michiganffa.com/
• Clemens Food Group (hog plant): http://www.cfgcoldwater.com/

Connect with Michigan GROWN, Michigan GREAT:

• Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
• Checkout our website at MichiganGrown.org
• Want to be featured as a Michigan AF business? Email us!

Thanks for listening and come back soon to hear about more people, foods and places that are Michigan AF!

Mick Kokx retired from Michigan State University. He raises locally-grown produce and meat goats in southwest Michigan. He shares about:

• Why he traveled to New Orleans recently
• A crisis he dealt with that required a biochemist to find answers to
• Questions he’s asked about frequently, and who runs the farmstand
• Which Michigan sports teams – and players – he’s rooting for
• What career he would choose if he wasn’t already rooted in farming
• An animal that never gets older and is their neighborhood icon
• The difference between goats and other animals (just one of many characteristics)
• A job he really didn’t like as a newlywed
• Taking corn orders before corn is even planted and planning trips around travel
• A beautiful picture of the perfect day
• How he got his start in farming
• Stickershock of making a move from Baltimore to the Upper Peninsula
• Things he’s most thankful for in life

Stories mentioned in this podcast:

• Michigan Farm Bureau Promotion & Education: https://www.michfb.com/MI/Promotion_and_Education.aspx
• PBB crisis: http://www.michiganradio.org/post/michigans-toxic-1973-pbb-food-contamination-associated-more-health-effects

Connect with Michigan GROWN, Michigan GREAT:

• Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
• Checkout our website at MichiganGrown.org
• Want to be featured as a Michigan AF business? Email us!

Thanks for listening and come back soon to hear about more people, foods and places that are Michigan AF!

Meet Jennifer Lewis, a dairy farmer from Jonesville with a husband, three grown kids and three grandkids. Her family also raises corn, soybeans, wheat, hay and blueberries. She shares about:

• What she offers as a 4-H club leader and volunteer
• Changes she’s making in her blueberry business
• A hobby she enjoys but hasn’t had time for in three years
• The interesting challenges winter of ’78 brought to her family’s sheep farm
• What her family is known for in the community
• What she’s looking forward to in 2019
• A household staple
• The most fun part of being a grandparent
• Why she’s eating her words and couldn’t be happier about it
• What they made for their employees this year (sorry in advance to your tastebuds missing out)
• Great advice she has received

Sites mentioned in this podcast:

• Pleasant View Dairy on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pvdairy/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/PVDairyGal1
• Michigan Farm Bureau: https://www.michfb.com/mi/
• 4-H: https://www.canr.msu.edu/4h/

Connect with Michigan GROWN, Michigan GREAT:

• Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
• Checkout our website at MichiganGrown.org
• Want to be featured as a Michigan AF business? Email us!

Thanks for listening and come back soon to hear about more people, foods and places that are Michigan AF!

Jodi DeHate is a Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) Technician based in Missaukee County. She grew up on a dairy farm, but now she and her husband raise fruits and vegetables and she milks cows every other Sunday. Listen as she talks about:

• How she got started raising five acres of produce
• Creative ways she’s built a business with used materials
• Hunting and fishing with her dad
• How she and her husband met
• Career paths that led her to this point
• What good bugs she watches for and other farm practices
• The best advice she’s been given
• Plans for 2019

Sites mentioned in this podcast:

• Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program: http://www.maeap.org/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/FarmChicJodi
• DeHaVen Farm: https://www.facebook.com/DeHaVenFarm.Mich
• MSU Extension: https://www.canr.msu.edu/outreach/index
• #agmeetup2019: https://twitter.com/AgMeetUp2019

Connect with Michigan GROWN, Michigan GREAT:

• Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
• Checkout our website at MichiganGrown.org
• Want to be featured as a Michigan AF business? Email us!

Thanks for listening and come back soon to hear about more people, foods and places that are Michigan AF!

Nick Schweitzer raises about 20 varieties of apples with his family in West Michigan. Learn more about him and:

• Jobs on the farm outside of apple harvest
• Why he’s the ultimate planner
• How apples are stored for optimum fruit quality all year long
• A career choice with a shocking seasonal twist
• Unique features of his region and one way his family mitigates risk for frost
• A future change he and his wife expect to make on the farm
• What he would choose to drink every day for the rest of his life
• His dream day and the most beautiful place he’s visited
• Why he loves traveling to the east side of the state so frequently
• Who he would invite to dinner, and an obvious dessert he’d serve

Follow Nick’s farmlife on social media at:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/schweitzerorchards/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoveMyMIApples

Connect with Michigan GROWN, Michigan GREAT:

• Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
• Checkout our website at MichiganGrown.org
• Want to be featured as a Michigan AF business? Email us!

Thanks for listening and come back soon to hear about more people, foods and places that are Michigan AF!

The Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn Restaurant is celebrating 130 years of being in business! Amy Zehnder Grossi is a fourth-generation restaurateur and joins our podcast as a winner of the 2018 Michigan GROWN, Michigan GREAT restaurant award. Hear about:

• 1,200 seats in a restaurant focusing on family-style chicken dinners and German entrees, plus bakery specialties
• Where the restaurant gets its fresh potatoes
• How they work with farmers to supply the volume of food served in their local restaurant
• Their annual Michigan Dinner event and some of the products (and people who raise them) that’ve been highlighted
• The family members who ensure food quality
• What brought her back to her family’s business
• The challenge of living in a seasonal state
• The most-prepared foods in her household
• The coolest and most interesting parts about touring farms that she works with
• Balancing life at home and at a family business

For more information, visit:

• The Bavarian Inn Restaurant’s website: https://bavarianinn.com/dine/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FrankenmuthBavarianInnRestaurant/
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/bavarianinn/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bavarian_Inn

Connect with Michigan GROWN, Michigan GREAT:

• Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
• Checkout our website at MichiganGrown.org
• Want to be featured as a Michigan AF business? Email us!

Thanks for listening and come back soon to hear about more people, foods and places that are Michigan AF!

Elaine Bristol works for the Michigan Ag Council during the day, but at night she transforms into a shepherd! Elaine, a fifth generation Michigan State Spartan, raises sheep with her family. Listen as she tells about how she ignored her instincts on a flight, the joy on people's faces at Disney World, the beauty of a dead end sign and how many wool items of clothing she sports daily. She covers:

• Providing a tasty salad bar for her herd
• The amazing utility of a shepherd's crook
• How grafting works with animals, not just plants
• Her upcoming wedding
• Becoming a chronic volunteer at the local fair
• Fitting into a millennial stereotype
• Finding love in 'plane' sight
• Living where others only vacation
• Beauty on land and in the sky, including eagles
• Why cheese and bread are the best foods
• Taking care of her grandma, who had Alzheimer's disease

Sites mentioned in this podcast:

• Find more farmer stories like Elaine’s at https://michigangrown.org/

Connect with Michigan GROWN, Michigan GREAT:

• Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
• Checkout our website at MichiganGrown.org
• Want to be featured as a Michigan AF business? Email us!

Thanks for listening and come back soon to hear about more people, foods and places that are Michigan AF!